Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler I Got Wood

Ok bob, get your mind on track here,sheesh.

Anyway i have the wood now for my center channel build. I bought a circle jig for my dremel tool to cut out the holes and recess them.I have a freind that is going to cut my pieces for me tomorrow. Also landed a job with him to install cat 6 and coax and possibly speaker wire throughout a 1800 sq ft house with 600 sq ft apartment over garage that he is building to sell(850,000 range).

In my sparetime i have installed a program called REW (room eq wizrd. I use this to measure the impedance curves of my drivers so i can design my cross over. I will be using the tweet from my vp 100 which i disassembled today.I was going to use one of the 5.25 drivers as well but an Interesting thing i found was the vp100 uses 2 5.25 drivers that measure 10 ohm's dc resistance in paralell to give nominal 5 ohms. Im having some trouble getting a impedance curve on the tweet but im sure it will get sorted out.I was going to build my cross over but decided on a dayton premade one that i may canabalize if it doesn,t measure well. I have a behringer UCA 222 usb sound card along with a behringer ECM 8000 electret mic tha i will use to measure the frequency response once its is built.Just need to buy a spl meter but that will have to wait for a bit. I will be using a external cross over until i get it where i want it,and make it small enough to fit through the front driver hole once im happy.

I designed the box using google sketchup which is a cool prog it does all the angles and such for you , soooo no math = yaaay
I will cover the finished product in real wood veneer.Overall dimensions are 40" wide ,11 high in front-8" high in back and 12" deep. I would attach a sketchup file but i cant seem to figure out how .It will have to rear facing ports 2 inches in diameter which i will make adjustable or pluggable depending what works. Well thats about it for now,will post pics when i get the pieces cut.

You have n SPL meter, REW and that mic act as an SPL meter, no need to buy anything else.

Are you planning on using just the Axiom 5.25" drivers in that size of box? I don't believe you are but I thought I would ask. With that size of box you are well on your way to building your own VP160 (pretty much the same volume) with 2 6.5" drivers you buy from Parts Express to go with one of the 5.25 Axiom mids.

You should call Axiom and see if they can supply you with the impedance curve for the tweeter.

Yes that is what my calculations told me. I only have a certain amount of room between my tv and the shelf so that is why i am building my own. Will be a fun project but probly no cheaper . I will be using 2 x 6.5 , 1 x 5.25, 1 x tweet. I am building 2 actually ,the second one will have 2 x 5.25 . right now i am fussing over the crossover as human dialogue is 300 to 3400 hz roughly and ian crosses the vp 160 at 200 but i am goin to try some higher crossover points .

BTW i have 4 axiom 6.5 drivers and 4 x 5.25 drivers plus my vp 100. the vp100 mids are 10 ohm's dc each so will use them for the second center channel in paralell

Many male voices go well below that 300hz, I am finding the 200hz on the VP160 works very well for me, but play away, no harm in that. I have always wanted to build my own speakers but never allow myself enough time to do it, so I will live vicariously through your project.

I've often wondered if the VP160 or VP180 will improve Ricardo Montalban's voice in The Wrath of Kahn.

But can they do anything about his fake chest?

His voice DOES sound chesty, doesn't it?

Need a higher crossover point for my eyes.

Not true!

http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/m/RicardoMontalban/montalban.htm

I cut all the wood on sunday but was not happy with how it turned out. My freind is more carpenter than cabinet maker.No worries as i bought a full sheet and only used half of it.My neighbor has a really nice setup,he makes picture frames for a living . Hard to find someone willing to do such a small project.
Right now anyone who is in the wood business is flat out building houses etc.

In case anyone is following i thought i would give a brief update. My guy got my wood cut, turns out his saw is in his unheated portion of his shop. Friggin woosey wouldn do it when it was -38, go figure. Its now a balmy -2 so we were good to go. Here is a pic of my driver layout to critique for anyone who cares to do so.



Richard

I like it!

Is that a condom wrapper in the photo on the bed just above the far right driver? Glad to see you are keeping work/life balance as important in your project.

Non-ported design?

Your close, its a rubber alright but in the form of an eraser.

It will be ported but to the rear.

Like so many of us are!

Bren R.

Ha, I was actually pretty sure it wasn't, it looked too thick, but I couldn't resist. Nor did I want to insult you by saying so.

If that's not really a condom, then I'd forget about any porting whatsoever.

I thought this thread was about wood, not woodys.

Its about whatever you want it to be about But seriously if i left them layin around my kids would steal em.


Got a bit acomplished today. Took a long time as im using a dremel with a circle cutter attachment and a 1/8 bit goin through 3/4 MDF.
Could not find a 1/4 bit in town which would have sped things up considerably. Can only go so far as im waiting on supplies, like screws and crossover parts and magnets.I haven,t yet figured out how im putting it all together as i have limited carpentry tools and funds.

Your doing great, you'll figure it out!

Looking good so far.

Made some more progress today.Mostly together except the back, it needed a slight trim.Fit really good only a very small amount of filler needed.Used #4 screws and liquid nails , solid as a tank it is.Also picked up a couple 48" clamps for 12.99 ,they got the job done.Fitted 2 pieces of carpet tube to isolate the 5.25 mids . Also painted the dust caps of the v3 drivers last nite. Ordered some psa veneer outta the states to cover it. I love the internet, helps fill in the blanks when doin a project like this. That bout it for now.

You could use some those parts underneath for port tubing.

Assembled and ready for the veneer, which unfortunately is back ordered. Expensive project this is. I had to buy a skill saw to put a beveled edge on the front , the kid blew up my old one. Thank god for canadian tire and awsome sales. Still have to buy a router to trim the veneer, and to make the front speaker grill.The crossover is ready to be soldered,waiting on some silicone wire. Im sure there will be more iterations of the crossover but thats what makes the project so interesting to me. I am looking forward to some frequency sweeps to determine whether to add a second tweeter. That's about it for now.





primer


Seal Coat (partially dried)

Wow. That is so cool.

I wouldn't add a second tweeter, if you think you need a second I would think about changing it out for a ribbon or some other design tweeter; adding a second tweeter can be very tricky as to placement, the VP150 went through several redesigns before they decided on the current configuration.

Saw this. Got woodie!!

Speaker build with a demo unit coming soon.

This should be cool!

Interesting jig but it would depend on what shape you're going for. It looks like it would be fine for slightly curved sides(w square back) but an elipse is unlikely since it will only go down to something like a 6" rad.

True, but the jig is very clever design. I'm curious to see how it works in real life.

Even more intriguing is that the thread involved someone named "BigJim" and the web page quoted "Meditate upon This".

Anyone else see a connection there to a possible Axiom board alter ego?

So i made some progress tonite. Built my crossover , mounted the drivers and hooked it up. It sounds great and it blends with the 80's really well.Waiting on the veneer still and some router bits so i can finish making the grill.
Its a bit larger than i had calculated. I think i messed up with inside and outside dimensions and the thickness of the wood. Goin to modify the panel mount again to raise it up.

[url=]In Place[/url]

[url=]Crossover [/url]

[url=]Crossover Bottom[/url]

Took the panel mount to work and modified to raise tv.

I like it, can I order one?

Great job, Richard!

Cheaper to get one from ian . He is much faster, cheaper and definately better researched. It has been a fun project so far but expensive even though i did not pay for the drivers. All those little caps and inductors are hard to locate and fairly expensive, dont even think about using solen unless you have deep pockets. I will be trying some other crossover's just as test beds. Currently waiting for my xlr cable to show up so i can do some measurements,though right now outdoor ones are kinda outta the question. Maybe just some nearfield for the time being.

thanks for the kind words. Hehe, my kid even complimented me and that never happens , ever. lol

Socket Man,
I work near a huge electronics store in Needham MA called You-Do-It-Electronics. It is awesome. If you ever need something, drop me a note and I bet they will have it. Then I will be glad to send it to you.

Thanks for the great offer ,i will definetly check them out and keep that in mind. I did find an outfit in canada called parts conexxion that i am trying out. They sell a second line by solen , will see how it works out. I doubt very much i can hear the difference between brands of capacitors. My hearing is not what it used to be ,so i am not too hard to please.